Northern America

August 2012: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Headquarters buildings in Washington, DC, US and its Country Office located in San Jose, Costa Rica have obtained Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification as environmentally sustainable structures.

7 September 2012: Lisa Jackson, Administrator, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Peter Kent, Minister of Environment, Canada, have signed an amendment to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, originally signed in 1972. The amendments strengthen US and Canadian cooperative action to address water quality threats and prevent harm.

21 August 2012: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have announced plans to help countries improve their drought risk management and develop effective, long-term solutions.

31 July 2012: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published IEA WIND's 2011 Annual Report, outlining trends in wind energy deployment, as well as cooperative research, development and deployment efforts of IEA member governments and organizations.

2 August 2012: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has released a report, titled “APEC Energy Overview 2011,” which provides an overview of energy data, energy policy information, and new energy developments in its 21 member economies.

11 July 2012: The Council of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has adopted new guidelines for submissions regarding the CEC's public Submission on Enforcement Matters (SEM) process, and instructed the CEC Secretariat to undertake new initiatives, including on short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), e-waste and clean energy.

6 July 2012: The 64th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the associated meetings of its Scientific Committee and other sub-groups took place in Panama City, Panama, from 11 June - 6 July 2012. The Commission addressed administrative and substantive matters, including aboriginal subsistence whaling, animal welfare, and climate change and cetaceans.

3 July 2012: The World Bank and the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) caution that new data show a two-billion cubic meter increase in gas flared in 2011, reversing the downward trend that had been achieved in recent years.

6 June 2012: The Organization of American States' (OAS) General Assembly has endorsed the Inter‐American Plan for Disaster Prevention and Response and the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance. The Plan is a management tool for coordinating governments' efforts in dealing with disaster prevention, preparedness, response and mitigation.

3 July 2012: The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has announced that five parliamentarians, from Bangladesh, Uganda, Cambodia, Senegal and the East African Legislative Assembly, have been named as parliamentary champions for their ongoing commitment to promoting legislation for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation.